Las Vegas

The dark-haired man in the green shirt sat quietly and sipped his beer as the brunette stripper swayed to the music, now clad only in a g-string and garters. She smiled down at him as he slipped a five dollar bill into her garter and she moved back to the pole, grinding against it as she gazed at him longingly.

“Feel like a dance, lover?”

“As a matter of fact…”

“No, he doesn’t.”

The stripper looked at the handsome blond who now stood behind the green shirt. She sneered at him. “Why don’t you let him make up his own mind? Girl’s gotta eat, y’know.”

The blond fixed his ice-blue eyes on her and she felt a chill go down her spine. She moved away from the pole and went to another area of the stage, muttering something about the blond needing to pull a stick out of an orifice. He ignored it and sat beside the green shirt.

“We have business to discuss. In private.”

The green shirt nodded and finished the rest of his beer, leaving the empty bottle on the table as he followed the blond man out the exit into a back alley. Once there, the green shirt fished through his pockets for a pack of cigarettes and offered one to his companion, who declined. He shrugged as he drew one for himself.

“Do you have it?”

“Right here, boss,” said the green shirt, tossing the neuroin dispenser. Andreas Von Strucker caught it in his hands and examined it before sliding it into his pocket. He had stolen a sample of it from his fellow Thunderbolt, Blizzard, and brought it to his mole within Hydra to have the Wizard reverse-engineer the drug. “Also have some more info on recruitment. Your father’s signed on the Rhino, the Man-Ape, some loser called the Ringer and the Crimson Dynamo.”

“The Dynamo?” asked Andreas.

“Well, someone in the suit, anyway. Had some association with Hydra and he got wind that this teenager named Gavrilov found one of the armors. He killed the kid, took the suit for himself and offered his services to Strucker.”

“How skilled is he?”

“Not very. But Wittman’s been helping him with that.” He took a drag on the cigarette. “Bottom line, Strucker’s beefing up the ranks. He’s planning something big, which I’m guessing is a direct strike against Zemo.”

“Have they discovered how to reach the Castle?” asked Andreas.

“No idea, but given the way Strucker’s circling the wagons, my gut tells me he’s going after Zemo.”

“Good,” said Andreas. He removed an envelope from his pocket and tossed it to the Hydra operative. “A little something so you can find more pleasurable company for the night.”

The mole opened it and counted the money inside before stuffing it into his pocket. “Thanks, but if you want more info from now on, the price has gone up a little.”

“Excuse me?” asked Andreas. “And what’s to stop me from slitting your throat and taking my money back?”

“Relax, it’s something that’ll benefit us both.”

“Very well, I’m listening.”

“The Dynamo’s armor, I want it. I’m sick of standing on the sidelines like this, and the Dynamo’s loyal to your father. If you take over Hydra, get rid of him and let me take his place.”

“I’ll consider it.”

“Not good enough. I need an answer.”

“That is your answer,” said Andreas. “If you continue to perform your job admirably, you will be handsomely rewarded, I promise you that. But the rewards will be decided when the job is done and while I appreciate the input, the final decision will be mine. You have no power over me, remember that.”

The operative nodded. “Understood, sir.”

MASTERS AND SLAVES

Part V

By Steve Seinberg and Dino Pollard

Mount Charteris

The Ringer stood before the hovering form of Frank Hall, called Graviton. He turned right-side up and hovered closer to the messenger, eyeing the Ringer carefully before he spoke.

“Strucker wants a word with me, eh?”

The Ringer gulped and nodded.

Graviton shrugged then nodded. “Very well, this should be good for a laugh.”

The Ringer activated the transmission and his armor projected a holographic image of Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker. “Good day to you, Mr. Hall. I regret I could not be here in person, but I hope you understand that I could not spare time to make the trip, so I trust this transmission will prove satisfactory.”

“Don’t spit on my face and tell me it’s raining, Strucker,” said Graviton. “We both know you sent this little cocksucker because you’re too chickenshit to show up yourself. And this way, if I flatten him, you don’t lose anything of value.”

The Ringer felt a mixture of fear and anger. He knew Graviton was right, that Strucker only sent him because if Graviton did lose his cool and kill the messenger, Strucker wouldn’t lose anyone he considered useful. But fear because he knew of Graviton’s temper and hoped Strucker would choose his words carefully and not anger the madman.

“Very well, then let us get to the point,” said Strucker. “I understand you recently operated under the Crimson Cowl’s latest incarnation of the Masters of Evil. What you may not be aware of is that you were played for a fool.”

The Ringer felt a pit in his stomach as Graviton’s eyes flashed with anger. “Excuse me?”

“Moonstone was posing as the Cowl on behalf of Zemo, a publicity stunt so his Thunderbolts would have someone to fight. I am offering you a chance to get revenge, to join my team and destroy Zemo.”

“Yes, you’re very generous,” scoffed Graviton. “Strucker, I may be crazy but that doesn’t make me an idiot. This is about your personal beef with Zemo and frankly, I couldn’t give two shits if you kill him, he kills you or you kill each other.”

“But he used you, betrayed you.”

“I know, and I’m quite pissed with that, but not enough to help you,” said Graviton. “If I wanted to turn Zemo into a stain beneath my boot, I could do that on my own, so why do I need you?”

“Because Zemo has assembled a new team of Thunderbolts, a veritable army.”

“And striking at them means fuck-all to me.”

“Very well. You once worked with Half-Life, did you not?”

Graviton sighed. “Your point?”

“She has recently escaped from the Raft. If you aid us, I could see that the two of you are reunited?”

“You see that? That’s poor salesmanship. You should know better, Wolfie,” said Graviton. “Half-Life served a purpose, that’s all, but she’s a alien sociopath. If I never see that crazy bitch again, I’ll die a happy man.” He looked down at the Ringer with a sly grin. “So, do you have any other carrots to dangle in front of me before I tear off your lackey’s head and use it for a game of pinball?”

The Ringer backed off, preparing to defend himself against a strike from Graviton, although he knew it would be a futile effort at best. He was saved, thankfully, because Strucker had one more thing to offer.

“Karla Sofen.”

“What about her?”

“She is not among Zemo’s new Thunderbolts, but Zemo himself is in possession of her moonstones,” said Strucker. “She is comatose and sequestered away somewhere in Zemo’s Castle. Should you aid me, I will ensure Sofen is yours to do with what you will.”

Graviton’s eyes crackled with energy. “You see, Wolfie? Now you’re speaking my language.”

Castle Zemo

“Graviton.” The Fixer shook his head. “This just keeps getting better and better.”

“Ebersol is right, Strucker’s ranks have swelled,” said the Abomination. “And now with Graviton working with them, their force has increased dramatically in strength.”

“So I see,” said Baron Zemo as the image on the monitor froze on Graviton’s smiling face. “Such great power wielded by such a petty man.”

“The time is now, Baron,” said the Abomination. “We should consider a preemptive strike against Strucker. For if his trend continues, he will soon outnumber us. And I’m fairly confident he’s building this army in order to launch a strike against us.”

“Currently, we possess the strength in numbers,” said Zemo.

“Consider the timeline and the number of people who were part of the Masters he’s recruiting from, Helmut,” said the Fixer. “In a very short time, Strucker’s ranks have almost matched ours. We’ve got the lead, but barely. And don’t forget Strucker’s still got the full force of Hydra behind him.”

“I understand the argument and the reasons are logical,” said Zemo. “However, I still believe ours is the stronger hand. Although it’s true, the numbers are adding up for Strucker, we are still able to reach his people, such as the Ringer, and use them for our benefit.”

“That won’t last and as we saw here, the Ringer’s basically being used as a messenger service. He’s not someone Strucker counts as an integral part of his operation. Hell, I’m sure if Wolfgang and Graviton were Facebook friends, he wouldn’t even need the Ringer,” said the Fixer. “Unless Kraft starts getting included on high-level meetings with Strucker and his lieutenants, we don’t know when they’ll strike until just before, nor will we know the full strategy.”

“We are also in a secured location, between dimensions,” said Zemo. “From what we have seen, Strucker has no means of accessing this pocket dimension, nor can he even locate it.”

“You’re putting a lot of stock in this, Helmut and I don’t like it,” said the Fixer.

“Nor do I,” said the Abomination. “I respect you, Baron. I would not be here if I didn’t. But this path is a very treacherous one. When dealing with the sort of people we have on this team, we don’t know who we can trust.”

“The question is, do you trust me?” asked Zemo. He looked at the Fixer.

“It’s no question at all, boss,” he said. “You need something done, I’m your man. You’ve always done right by me and as long as that trend continues, I’ll do right by you.”

“Very well,” said Zemo before turning to the Abomination. “Emil?”

“It’s not a matter of my trust, you have that in spades,” said the former Russian spy. “I’m just concerned about those outside this room. Chen I am positive we can trust, he’s an honorable man. But some of the others, I’m not so sure about…”

“The concerns are noted, but for now, we continue to bide our time until I say we make the next move,” said Zemo.

Melissa Gold stood overlooking the spot where she watched Blizzard nearly beat Jack O’Lantern to death and where she saw MACH-IV take him down before adding insult to injury. And she began to wonder, not for the first time, just what she was doing here in the first place.

“Penny for ’em.”

Looking over her shoulder she smiled at the archer, Hawkeye, whose mask was pulled away from his face, revealing the handsome features of Clint Barton. He jumped from the rock he had been perched on to join her at the beach. “You doing okay?”

“You didn’t see it,” said Melissa. “The way Donnie went off…it’s like he just completely snapped. Never thought much of him before. The drugs, the incompetence, but even though he didn’t have anything going for him, he…well, he seemed like a nice enough guy. Y’know, for a crook.”

“Seems like getting mixed up with Zemo has a way of changing people,” said Clint. “You’re having second thoughts, aren’t you? About staying with the team after what happened with the Skull?”

She nodded. “When we returned from Counter-Earth, it really seemed like Zemo had changed, that he wanted to save the world. And I stayed with the team then because I believed him. And we did good work, you saw. We did good work for a long time.”

“Didn’t stay that way, did it?”

“No, no it didn’t. His methods, they’re getting increasingly more vicious. Erik, Hallie, and Dallas are all gone. Charlie’s dead. And they’ve been replaced by Bullseye, Tiger Shark, Carnage, the Swordsman, the Abomination, Jack O’Lantern and now even Blizzard is going nuts. Plus there’s something really, really shifty about Doc Ock, something that just makes my skin crawl whenever he smiles at me. And Wyngarde is pretty much ten times the bitch that Karla was.”

Clint let out a little chuckle at that last comment but then turned serious. “I know what you mean. Chen seems like the only sane one in the bunch and that’s sayin’ somethin’ considering his fashion sense. Plus I don’t like the idea of settin’ up the Ringer the way we did. Even if he’s one of the bad guys, he didn’t deserve this. And once Strucker finds out about it, which we know will happen sooner or later, it’s not gonna be pretty.”

“And that’s something Abe helped with…”

Clint looked at her. “What’s that?”

“Nothing, just…” She sighed. “Have you noticed that Abe seems…different?”

“How so?”

“I don’t know, he’s just…he’s more willing to cross the line than he used to be. And out of everyone, him and I were always the ones who were the most attracted to the idea of reforming. But now he seems to enjoy what he’s doing and I guess I’m worried that may happen to me…”

“You haven’t changed, Mel,” said Clint. “Just everything else that has.”

“Then why am I still here?” she asked. “Why are you?”

Clint looked off over the sea. “That’s a question I still don’t have an answer for.”

The tesseract portals located inside Castle Zemo allowed the Thunderbolts to travel anywhere on the planet instantaneously. One such Thunderbolt just emerged from a portal, linked to his former laboratory in New York. The four metal arms controlled by Doctor Otto Octavius reached out as he approached the monitor. The arms activated the computer system and placed a call and within a few moments, the image of his contact appeared on the monitor.

“Octavius. I hope you have good news.”

“I do,” said Dr. Octopus. “I have considered your offer and I am willing to turn over the necessary data for Strucker and his troops to lock onto Castle Zemo’s interdimensional location. Once Strucker has locked on, he will be able to transport his forces there.”

“I see. And what do you want in return for this information?”

“Full funding of my research for the next ten years as well as unfettered access to the Fixer’s technology, which I expect to remain intact,” said Dr. Octopus.

“Is that all?”

“No, I also want the moonstones.”

“Out of the question, those are too powerful to simply turn over to you.”

“One at least, for research purposes,” said Dr. Octopus. “The data my research could produce from one moonstone would be worth billions of dollars, of which I am willing to share the profits with a silent partner.”

“Zemo won’t look too kindly on this betrayal.”

“I care little of what Zemo thinks,” said Dr. Octopus. “I joined his Thunderbolts simply in order to have access to the Fixer’s technology, which he selfishly guards like a miser. I have only been allowed extremely limited access to it.”

“You drive a hard bargain, Octavius. Who’s to say this information is worth such a steep price?”

“It is and you know it.”

“Please, enlighten me.”

“I know Strucker and Control are in league and I know that Zemo has his sights set on Control. In order to prevent him from undoing all your work, you will pay any price, no matter how steep it may be. Now, if you don’t want the information, I’m sure you could find some other way to lock onto Zemo’s location. Although given the multitude of dimensions and pocket dimensions, by my calculations, it will take a few hundred years to scratch the surface of all the dimensions, inhabited and uninhabited. Of course, you could get lucky…”

“Ebersol’s technology will be yours and you’ll be permitted to access the moonstone for research purposes only under supervision, is that acceptable?”

“And the funding?” asked Dr. Octopus.

“Five years of funding.”

“Nine.”

“Six.”

“Seven.”

“…done.”

“Good,” said Dr. Octopus as his metal arms entered a few commands into the computer through consoles placed where no man could reach. “I am transmitting the data as we speak. Oh, and there is one more thing you should know.”

“Which is?”

“Strucker has a mole in his ranks.”

“Who?”

“The Ringer,” said Dr. Octopus. “The Thunderbolts got to him before Strucker’s people did. So if you want this invasion to go smoothly without Zemo’s knowledge of an incoming attack, that is one leak you must immediately plug.”

“Noted. Congratulations, Doctor. You’ve just become a very wealthy man.”

“The wealth doesn’t interest me half as much as the research potential.”